Researcher │Writer │Sustainable Food Systems

A cautionary tale of two supermarkets

Major supermarket chains can wield considerable power across the entire food supply chain: the concentration of this power allows them to outsource responsibility for the damage to public and environmental health, biodiversity loss and the low wages of farm workers and farmgate prices that drive their profits. A frank discussion needs to be had among Australian supermarkets, their customers and policymakers about the true cost of food as an essential prerequisite for making their operations more sustainable and ethical.